Snyder Memorial's Giles Blankenship returns from London after recording song

Chick Jacobs Staff writer

Monday

Aug 26, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 26, 2013 at 6:14 AM

The trip was hectic.

The music was heavenly.

And, during Giles Blankenship's whirlwind week recording his winning song in London, he got to try some fish and chips.

"I had been told I couldn't come back to Fayetteville if I didn't have some," Blankenship said from his office at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church. The 39-year-old worship leader had returned a day earlier from recording the song "You Are There" in Eastbourne, England.

"They were nice and crunchy. But they were hardly the high point of the trip. The high point was meeting and performing with such talented artists."

Blankenship flew to England on Aug. 9, days after winning the 2013 We Are Worship songwriting contest. After some last-minute flight adjustments, he arrived in London with a day to tour and adjust to the time difference.

"Everything had been pre-scheduled, including the studio time," he said. "But the people took me under their wing and made me feel welcome.

Studio musicians fleshed out the song written by Blankenship and Lars Gordon, making some minor adjustments.

"The song originally was written in the key of F sharp," Blankenship said. "They moved it to the key of G, which is much more music-friendly. It has more of a rock feel to it, too. It really sounds good.''

After staying overnight, then making a video to accompany the song and doing a radio interview, he was back on a plane for North Carolina.

"Things went so fast, I didn't get to act like a big shot," he joked.

The next day, Blankenship was back at his usual morning performance at Operation Inasmuch on Hillsboro Street.

"The clients there made me a poster with their congratulations," he said. "I think that meant as much to me as anything we did in England.''

The song, which is still in the processing and production phase, will debut on weareworship.com at a later date.

Meanwhile, "I'm back where God has called me to be, in Fayetteville," Blankenship said. "It's been a wonderful opportunity to make a new group of friends. I can't wait to see what God has in store from here."

Staff writer Chick Jacobs can be reached at jacobsc@fayobserver.com or 486-3515.

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